Being Nixon: The Fears and Hopes of an American President

What was it really like to be Richard Nixon? Evan Thomas tackles this fascinating question by peeling back the layers of a man driven by a poignant mix of optimism and fear. The result is both insightful history and an astonishingly compelling psychological portrait of an anxious introvert who struggled to be a transformative statesman.

One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War

In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be sliding inexorably toward a nuclear conflict over the placement of missiles in Cuba. Veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs has pored over previously untapped American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to produce the most authoritative book yet on the Cuban missile crisis.

American democracy was never supposed to give the nation a president like Donald Trump. We have never had a president who gave rise to such widespread alarm about his lack of commitment to the institutions of self-government, to the norms democracy requires, and to the need for basic knowledge about how government works. We have never had a president who raises profound questions about his basic competence and his psychological capacity to take on the most challenging political office in the world.

Ike's Gamble: America's Rise to Dominance in the Middle East

In 1956 President Nasser of Egypt moved to take possession of the Suez Canal, thereby bringing the Middle East to the brink of war. The British and the French, who operated the canal, joined with Israel in a plan to retake it by force. Despite the special relationship between England and America, Dwight Eisenhower intervened to stop the invasion.

Eisenhower in War and Peace

Author of the best-seller FDR, Jean Edward Smith is a master of the presidential biography. Setting his sights on Dwight D. Eisenhower, Smith delivers a rich account of Eisenhower’s life using previously untapped primary sources. From the military service in WWII that launched his career to the shrewd political decisions that kept America out of wars with the Soviet Union and China, Smith reveals a man who never faltered in his dedication to serving America, whether in times of war or peace.

Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans

From the time of the Greeks and the Persians clashing in the Mediterranean, sea power has determined world power. To an extent that is often underappreciated, it still does. No one understands this better than Admiral Jim Stavridis. In Sea Power, Admiral Stavridis takes us with him on a tour of the world's oceans from the admiral's chair, showing us how the geography of the oceans has shaped the destinies of nations and how naval power has in a real sense made the world we live in today and will shape the world we live in tomorrow.

The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency

What do Dick Cheney and Rahm Emanuel have in common? Aside from polarizing personalities, both served as chief of staff to the president of the United States - as did Donald Rumsfeld, Leon Panetta, and a relative handful of others. The chiefs of staff, often referred to as "the gatekeepers", wield tremendous power in Washington and beyond; they decide who is allowed to see the president, negotiate with Congress to push POTUS' agenda, and - most crucially - are the first in line to the leader of the free world's ear.

Three Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower's Final Mission

In this debut history from one of America's most influential political journalists, Bret Baier casts the three days between Dwight Eisenhower's prophetic "farewell address" on the evening of January 17, 1961, and his successor John F. Kennedy's inauguration on the afternoon of January 20 as the final mission of one of modern America's greatest leaders.

The Supreme Commander: The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower

In this classic portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower the soldier, best-selling historian Stephen E. Ambrose examines the Allied commander's leadership during World War II. Ambrose brings Eisenhower's experience of the Second World War to life, showing in vivid detail how the general's skill as a diplomat and a military strategist contributed to Allied successes in North Africa and in Europe and established him as one of the greatest military leaders in the world.

Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?

War with China is much more likely than anyone thinks. When Athens went to war with Sparta some 2,500 years ago, the Greek historian Thucydides identified one simple cause: A rising power threatened to displace a ruling one. As the eminent Harvard scholar Graham Allison explains, in the past 500 years, great powers have found themselves in "Thucydides's Trap" 16 times. In 12 of the 16, the results have been catastrophic.

The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made

Six close friends shaped the role their country would play in the dangerous years following World War II. They were the original best and brightest, whose towering intellects, outsize personalities, and dramatic actions would bring order to the postwar chaos, and whose strong response to Soviet expansionism would leave a legacy that dominates American policy to this day. In April 1945, they converged to advise an untutored new president, Harry Truman.

Nixon's White House Wars: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever

From Vietnam to the Southern Strategy, from the opening of China to the scandal of Watergate, Pat Buchanan - speechwriter and senior adviser to President Nixon - tells the untold story of Nixon's embattled White House, from its historic wins to it devastating defeats. In his inaugural address, Nixon held out a hand in friendship to Republicans and Democrats alike. But by the fall of 1969, massive demonstrations in Washington and around the country had been mounted to break his presidency.

The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War

From master storyteller and historian H. W. Brands, twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, comes the riveting story of how President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur squared off to decide America's future in the aftermath of World War II.

Special Forces Berlin: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army's Elite, 1956-1990

The massive armies of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies posed a huge threat to the nations of Western Europe. US military planners decided they needed a plan to slow the juggernaut they expected when and if a war began. The plan was Special Forces Berlin. Their mission, should hostilities commence, was to wreak havoc behind enemy lines and buy time for vastly outnumbered NATO forces to conduct a breakout from the city.

Richard Nixon: The Life

Richard Nixon opens with young navy lieutenant "Nick" Nixon returning from the Pacific and setting his cap at Congress, an idealistic dreamer seeking to build a better world. Yet amid the turns of that now legendary 1946 campaign, Nixon's finer attributes quickly gave way to unapologetic ruthlessness. It is a stunning overture to John A. Farrell's magisterial portrait of a man who embodied postwar American cynicism.

A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age

Claude Shannon was a tinkerer, a playful wunderkind, a groundbreaking polymath, and a digital pioneer whose insights made the Information Age possible. He constructed fire-breathing trumpets and customized unicycles, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots, but he also wrote the seminal text of the Digital Revolution. That work allowed scientists to measure and manipulate information as objectively as any physical object. His work gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass.

Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency

From the reporter who was there at the very beginning comes the revealing inside story of the partnership between Steve Bannon and Donald Trump - the key to understanding the rise of the alt-right, the fall of Hillary Clinton, and the hidden forces that drove the greatest upset in American political history.

The Retreat of Western Liberalism

In The Retreat of Western Liberalism, Luce makes a larger statement about the weakening of western hegemony and the crisis of liberal democracy - of which Donald Trump and his European counterparts are not the cause, but a terrifying symptom. Luce argues that we are on a menacing trajectory brought about by ignorance of what it took to build the West, arrogance towards society's economic losers, and complacency about our system's durability.

The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream

Since Alexis de Tocqueville, restlessness has been accepted as a signature American trait. Our willingness to move, take risks, and adapt to change have produced a dynamic economy and a tradition of innovation from Ben Franklin to Steve Jobs. The problem, according to legendary blogger, economist, and best-selling author Tyler Cowen, is that Americans today have broken from this tradition - we're working harder than ever to avoid change.

Robert Kennedy: His Life

Traditionally, Robert F. Kennedy has been viewed as either the "Good Bobby", who saw wrong and tried to right it, or the "Bad Bobby" of countless conspiracy theories. Evan Thomas' achievement is to realize RFK as a human being, to bring to life an extraordinarily complex man who was at once kind and cruel, devious and honest, fearful and brave. The portrait that emerges is unvarnished but sympathetic, packed with new details about Kennedy's early life and his behind-the-scenes machinations.

A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President

In A Vast Conspiracy, the best-selling author of The Run of His Life casts an insightful, unbiased eye over the most extraordinary public saga of our time - the Clinton sex scandals. A superlative journalist known for the skillfulness of his investigating and the power of his writing, Jeffrey Toobin tells the unlikely story of the events that began over doughnuts in a Little Rock hotel and ended on the floor of the United States Senate, with only the second vote on presidential removal in American history.

White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America

Around the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class. Meanwhile, members of the professional elite - journalists, managers, and establishment politicians - are on the outside looking in, left to argue over the reasons. Williams explains that many people have conflated "working class" with "poor" - but the working class is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. They often resent the poor and the professionals alike. But they don't resent the truly rich.

Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream: The Most Revealing Portrait of a President and Presidential Power Ever Written

Doris Kearns Goodwin's classic life of Lyndon Johnson, who presided over the Great Society, the Vietnam War, and other defining moments in the tumultuous 1960s, is a monument in political biography. From the moment the author, then a young woman from Harvard, first encountered President Johnson at a White House dance in the spring of 1967, she became fascinated by the man - his character, his enormous energy and drive, and his manner of wielding these gifts in an endless pursuit of power.

The Road to Camelot: Inside JFK's Five-Year Campaign

A behind-the-scenes, revelatory account of John F. Kennedy's wily campaign for the White House, beginning with his bold failed attempt to win the vice presidential nomination in 1956. A young and undistinguished junior plots his way to the presidency and changes the way we nominate and elect presidents. John F. Kennedy and his young warriors invented modern presidential politics.

Publisher's Summary

Upon assuming the presidency in 1953, Dwight Eisenhower came to be seen by many as a doddering lightweight. Yet behind the bland smile and apparent simplemindedness was a brilliant, intellectual tactician. As Evan Thomas reveals in his provocative examination of Ike's White House years, Eisenhower was a master of calculated duplicity. As with his bridge and poker games he was eventually forced to stop playing after leaving too many fellow army officers insolvent, Ike could be patient and ruthless in the con, and generous and expedient in his partnerships. Facing the Soviet Union, China, and his own generals, some of whom believed a first strike was the only means of survival, Eisenhower would make his boldest and riskiest bet yet, one of such enormity that there could be but two outcomes: the survival of the world, or its end.

I grew up in the forties and fifties so the story of Eisenhower was one central to my youth. I found it fascinating to gain a new insight into the man and the times. While ones political sensibilities may color your reception to the book, it was in most ways relatively apolitical, focusing more on international issues. It works well as an audiobook, although from time to time it seemed to jump around in chronology.I found the book surprisingly enjoyable.

This book was intriguing because it laid out in remarkable detail Ike's understated leadership qualities. The picture of Ike accumulating consensus for a very confrontational nuclear strategy was engrossing. This listen was hard to stop once started.

This book is primarily about Eisenhower’s foreign policy and how he successfully kept the United States out of a major war during his eight years as president, which was his major goal. I have just finished reading “The Brother” by Stephen Kinzer about John Foster Dulles, Eisenhower’s Secretary of State and Allen Dulles his head of the CIA. The two books complement each other to give me a more complete picture of the Eisenhower era. I lived through this period in history and it does not seem like it was that long ago, on the other hand, so much has happened since the ‘50s it seem like a long time ago. Reading these two book helps understand the problems of today. Eisenhower’s ambiguity is a recurring theme in the book. His style was to avoid telling anyone his definite views on a subject. Eisenhower was a shrewd operator who never let anyone know whether he would use nuclear weapons or not.

The author uses the Hungarian uprising of 1956 as an example of one of Eisenhower’s best and worst moments for his policy of “take a hard line—and bluff”. Though he successfully avoided a major war the Soviet Union over Hungary, choosing containment over confrontation, and his administration’s rhetoric about “rolling back” communism encouraged Hungarians to expect America’s support which did not come. A “CIA backed clandestine radio stations” had been encouraging Hungarians to fight.

Eisenhower let John Foster Dulles carry the rhetoric for his administration. Ike willing let himself appear disengaged, even weak to unbalance his opponents. The author states that Eisenhower skill at concealment, deception and secrecy turned Allen Dulles loose at the CIA. Mostly Thomas portrays Eisenhower in a favorable light.

I found the book interesting and with “The Brothers” gave me a good over view of the 1950’s international politics. Brian Troxell did an excellent job narrating the book.

As we finally are moving beyond the world that Ike built, it's fascinating to read about this pivitol character in it's creation. Excellent narrative, important behind the scenes information exposed, told well.

A well told story of president Eisenhower during difficult and dangerous times in the new nuclear age. I learned much about Ike I didn't know before, not all of it positive. The only shortcoming in Ike's Bluff was that it lacked some moral objectivity on some of the dirty dealings Ike involved himself and the country in, like Guatemala, etc.

Was Ike right for the age or did we luck out? That's the hard question.

"Ike's Bluff" forcefully makes the case for the depth, intelligence, fortitude and courage of President Eisenhower. Often underrated for his relaxed smile and his love of golf, Eisenhower is shown to be a canny cold warrior, ensuring a degree of international peace through the "bluff" that the US was prepared to use nuclear weapons to stop Russian expansion. The portrait is balanced, showing Ike as a supporter of CIA-sponsored coups and assassinations of Communist-leaning foreign leaders but an opponent (or skeptical supporter) of some of the defense establishment's other misguided strategies--especially those that increased the likelihood of nuclear war. The section on the downing of the U-2 spy plane over Russia and Khruschev's response is compelling. There are excellent portraits of many military and CIA leaders, often shown as barely controllable actors, as well as intriguing figures like his wife Mamie, his doctor and his secretary.

Ike was an excellent card player at the table of international diplomacy. His poker skills (he gave up playing as a soldier after repeatedly cleaning out his buddies) and his bridge skills taught him strategic skills, anticipating the plays of others and knowing when to bluff.

The book focuses too on Eisenhower as a vulnerable aging man, worried about his deteriorating health, popping pills to help himself sleep. The author doesn't hold back from reports on Ike's bowel movements, his cuddling in bed with his wife and even his Metrecal for lunch. Overall, the reader gains great respect for Eisenhower, who served the country faithfully and with deep personal sacrifice. And at the end, Ike is praised for identifying the risks of the military-industrial complex, a term he originated to express his dismay at the constant pressures to increase the arms race.

The narration was serviceable and easy to listen to, although some names were mispronounced.

Listening to the audio part 1, I wondered if this author had forgotten how to write history. He opens with an endless prologue, endlessly stitching together vignettes and stories about Ike, in no discernible order, many times repeating stories, all to set up his theme, which is that Ike governed much the way he played poker. FINALLY I skipped to Part 2 and was very pleasantly surprised. We get vivid depictions of Ike facing off against the demons in his cabinet, the CIA, Russia, and his own complex personality. Gripping history and excellent biography. The ending is also too long. Where was this author's editor?! Recommended for listeners who are not afraid to skip forward on their iPod.

Excellent writing and very well read. But an awful lot about Ike's moods, golf and health. A bit more on national and international politics would have made this account more interesting and valuable as history. Still, recommended as an approachable and insightful recounting of this important American president.

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